Poland drops in economic freedom index

WARSAW: Poland has dropped to 45th spot in this year’s Index of Economic Freedom, measuring the ease of conducting business worldwide.

Last year the country came 39th globally in the ranking issued by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.

Among its European peers, Poland dropped to 21st place, down from the previous year’s 18th.

According to the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, the Polish partner of the report, Poland’s economic freedom levels – which are one point lower than they were a year ago – are in large part a result of the growth dynamics of other countries, which have allowed them to overtake Poland.

The average level of global economic freedom has increased by 0.2 points in this year’s index, reaching a record level of 60.9 points. The average for Europe was 68.0 points.

“In terms of points, Poland’s position this year is higher than the global average and above the European average,” Tomasz Wróblewski, the president of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, said on Wednesday during the presentation of the index.

“In relation to 2013, when the methodology changed, we grew by a total of 2.3 points. Since 2008, every few years Poland experienced minor hiccups on the road to full freedom. This was the case in 2009 and 2012,” Wróblewski added.